Draper reviews

Leadership, leadership, leadership. A “code of ethics” and diversity goals which don’t apply to the old boys‘ club at the top of the management chain. Draper innovation culture is not surviving the consistent, unfair treatment of employees. Diversity and fair wages are policies for appearance only. In my early years here, I saw a highly functional not-for-profit. However, in the last 4 years Draper has sold its soul and will do anything for revenue. It compensates upper management handsomely, at the cost of fair treatment of the army of brilliant engineers who make all of the magic happen. Abusive, discriminatory behavior is still rewarded, so long as revenue is strong. I am equally sad and relieved to have left the company. I hope they manage to get back on track for the sake of the people who continue to give it their best.

--People coast by while doing virtually no work. Working at Draper feels like being in a "study hall" sometimes. The pay is great, but the work is completely unfulfilling. --Far too much organizational inertia. Draper spends a ton of money creating advertisements that imply that they are on the bleeding edge of technology, but in reality they are afraid of change. --Draper puts a cap on the number of employees at each level, so you have to wait your turn even if you're out-performing your peers. There are people who have been doing great work and have been there for 10+ years that are still at the level where they were hired in at. It's very hard to get a promotion. --Draper does not provide real resources to do research. They used to have an on-site library where you could order books and research papers, but they got rid of that to save money. --The culture is terrible. People get by on "security through obscurity," and upper management can't see through it.